Method of forming knitted hose



Nqv. 22, 1960 B. T. R. REYMES-COLE 2,960,751

METHOD OF FORMING KNITTED HOSE Filed July 22. 195',

. In ventar affiw' ttorney METHOD OF FORMING KNITTED HOSE Bernard Thornton Reymes Reymes-Cole, Burbage, near Hinckley, England, ass gnor, by mesne assignments, to Singer-Fidelity, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Juiy 22, 1957, Ser. No. 673,366

'1 Claim. (Cl. 28-72) This invention is for improvements in or relating to kni ted hose and h s for one of its objects to facilitate and effect certain economies in the manufacture of certain kinds of hose.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a hose formed from a tube of knitted fabric and having the foot end provided by closing the tube along a join line extending across the width of the tube and by shaping and setting the fabric on a form so that said join line extends under and a ong the foot between the neighbourhoods of the toe and heel. The tube of knitted fabric is made so as to incorporate a yarn having setting properties at least in that Portion of t e tube from which the foot is to be formed. Thus the shaping of the foot from the toe to the heel or ankle is produced by stretching the tubular fabric into the shape of the foot and setting it in that formation.

In carrying out the invention the tube of knitted fabric may if desired be formed from a flat blank (knitted for example on a straight bar machine) by joining its lateral edges together, but in a preferred form of the invention the tube of fabric is knitted on a circular kn tting machine as a seamless tube entirely by rotary knitting.

The invention enables economies to be effected in the steps necessary to produce a stocking by permitting a more or less straight tube of fabric, preferably formed entirely by rotary knitting, to be formed into a stocking or sock by first joining its two sides together by seaming or linking across the width of the tubular fabric in order to close the foot end, and thereafter stretching the tube of fabric to shape on a form in such manner that the whole of the foot shape is in a sense moulded into the fabric, the fabric being set in the shaped condition. A characteristic of the foot of a hose so formed is that the course lines of knitting are caused to extend in the shaped foot around the sole thereof (from the heel to toe and back again) and around the sides of the foot from the back of the heel to the upper part of the toe end in more or less elliptical form. The wales and courses are in practice distorted from their normal shape and the knitted stitches will become extended at some places and contracted at others in forming the shape of the foot.

The invention includes the method of producing a hose comprising forming a tube of knitted fabric, closing one end thereof by joining together fabric at opposite sides along a join line extending transversely of the length of the tube, drawing the closed ended tube on to a form to stretch the foot portion into the shape of a foot with the join line extending along the bottom of the foot between the neighbourhoods of the toe and heel and setting the fabric in the shape dictated by the form. The method is preferably carried out by first providing the tube of knitted fabric by knitting it on a circular knitting machine as a seamless tube formed entirely by rotary knitting. A substantial saving in manufacturing costs can be achieved by this method of forming a hose.

A preferred manner of carrying out the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a knitted tube fabric from which a stocking is formed;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a laid-out portion of the fabric on a somewhat larger scale showing the procedure for closing the foot-end;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the shaped foot of a completed stocking in position on a board, the upper parts of the stocking and board being broken away;

Figure 4 is a rear perspective view from underneath the foot of the shaped stocking as it appears on a foot or form.

The tube of fabric shown in Fig. 1 which, in effect, forms a blank from which a stocking is made, is knitted by rotation and. comprises a welt portion 10, a main portion 11 of plain knitted fabric to form the leg and upper portion of the foot, and a spliced under portion 12 from which the under part of the foot is formed, as will now be described. The tubular fabric is laid flat, as shown in Fig. 2, with the material folded on itself along the front line 13 and back line 14 of the leg, and the foot end is closed by a cutting and seaming operation or by a linking operation along a line extending from one to the other of the lines of fold 13 and 14 within the spliced area 12. The tube of fabric, which is knitted from thermoplastic yarn at least along that part of the tube from which the heel instep and toe is to be formed, is then placed on a shaped form, the foot portion drawn to the shape of the form with the closing seam extending along the bottom centre line of the foot from just behind the toe extremity in a rearward direction towards the heel. While the stocking blank is thus stretched to shape on the form, it is set in the shape dictated by the form by a normal heat-setting procedure.

In Fig. 2 there are shown certain lines representing alternative positions for the closing seam. Thus the line 15 represents a seam line running approximately at right angles to the length of the tube, While line 16 is a straight seam line slanted with respect to the length of the tube, and line 17 represents a curved seam line which may be used with advantage in assisting the formation of a neatly shaped foot. The compound curvature of the curved line 17 approximates the required shape of the sole of the foot and provides a join line substantially longer than the width of the fabric thus assisting stretching of the fabric along the foot. In forcing the closed tube of fabric as in Fig. 3 on to a shaped form, conveniently a flat board 24 as used in a normal boarding process, the wales (indicated generally at 23) and courses of the knitted fabric become somewhat distorted, the wales being stretched more widely apart than normally in the neighbourhood of the heel and around the sides and front of the foot, while the courses tend to be drawn more closely together at these regions. On the other hand, in the neighbourhood of the top of the instep the wales become drawn more closely together, while the courses tend to become somewhat more widely separated in order to produce the required shape. 2

Fig. 3 shows the shape to which the foot of the hose is drawn and indicates a seam line 18 extending centrally under the bottom of the foot from a forward position indicated at 19 immediately behind and below the toe extremity to a rearward position indicated at 20. The position of the rearward end 20 of the seamed join line 18 may vary between those indicated by the chain lines 25. The toe extremity is formed by distortion of the fabric in front and on each side of the forward part of the seam line and the heel shaping is formed by distortion of the fabric behind and on each side of the rearward part of the seam line. The foot shown in Fig. 3 has its under portion 21 reinforced by being formed from the spliced area 12, the upward limit of splicing being indicated by line 22. This reinforcement extends from just above the toe around the lower part of the sides of the foot to just below the heel. The upward limit of the reinforcement can be varied according to the position at which the seam line 15, 16 or 17 is formed when closing the toe under the foot.

The invention is particularly useful in connection with bare-leg types of stockings and the rear view, as seen in Fig. 4, shows how the construction for this type of stocking results in the spliced area being confined mainly to the under part of the foot where it is hidden by the wearers shoe. The invention is, however, also applicable to other kinds of stockings as, by forming the closing seams 15, 16 or 17 at a suitable position in relation to the terminal line 22 of the spliced area, reinforcement which will extend round the sides of the heel can be provided. It will be noted that the spliced area 12, commencing as it does at a course line 22, provides a clean junction with the unspliced area without there being any thread ends requiring to be cropped.

It will be appreciated that the procedure in accordance with the invention is applicable to the formation of various kinds of hose, including socks as well as stockings. While it is possible to form the knitted blank from a fiat knitted fabric jointed along the edges to form a tube, advantage is preferably taken of the more rapid procedure of knitting the blank entirely by rotary knitting with or without the introduction of a mock seam, depending on whether or not a seamed or seam free appearance is required. It will be further evident that the join line 18 extending along the bottom of the foot may be formed either by linking or by means of a sewn seam. The hose, if desired, may have the whole of the foot formed from plain knitted fabric without reinforcement, in which case fabric such as at the portion 11 of the tube will be continued in place of the portion 12 and the join line formed by linking or seaming across the tube through plain non-reinforced fabric. When the reinforced area 12 is provided it may be formed by knitting in a reinforcing yarn together with the main yarn or by effecting a yarn change so that the portion 12 is knitted entirely from a separate yarn that is stronger than the main yarn. For example, for a ladies nylon stocking the portion 12 of the tubular blank may be knitted from a single yarn of 60-denier, while the remainder of the blank up to the welt is knitted from IS-denier yarn.

The yarn used for knitting the tubular blank may be formed of nylon or other man-made fibre possessing setting properties, and any of the known forms of bulked yarn formed from such materials and possessing stretching properties are found to be particularly suitable. Such bulked yarns may with particular advantage be incorporated in the knitted fabric at parts where the greatest amount of distortion is required in shaping the foot and heel, and especially in the fabric which is to form the toe extremity. The stretch yarn may for example be incorporated in the reinforced area 12.

The incorporation of a thermoplastic yarn possessing good setting properties is, of course, most needed for the part of the fabric forming the lower part of the portion 11 of the tube and the reinforced portion 12. The incorporation of such yarn may be confined to such parts of the blank, though generally it will be found preferable to use the same kind of yarn throughout the length of the blank. If desired, a non-setting yarn, such as cotton, silk or the like, may be knitted in certain courses only in the part of the blank which is to form the sole of the foot.

In the knitting of a seamless tubular blank from which the hose is to be formed, some preliminary shaping of parts of the fabric may be effected by the procedure of quality control, that is by varying the size of the knitted loops at different parts of the tube. This procedure may be used to facilitate the shaping of the hose on the form by controlling the knitting action so that longer loops are drawn at places in the fabric where the greatest amount of stretch will be needed to shape the fabric to the form. In knitting the tubular fabric the stitch length may be controlled by orthodox means in such manner as to cause shorter loops to be formed in parts of the tubular fabric corresponding to the lower (narrow) portion of the leg, and, if desired, around the ankle portion, while longer stitches are formed in the foot portion to wards the line of closure.

It will be appreciated that in the formation of the foot I of a hose in accordance with the invention an angular pocket of fabric tends to be formed at the ends of the join line 15, 16 or 17 between it and the front and back lines 13 and 14, and in the shaping process when the fabric is drawn on to the form 24 such pockets are required to be pulled out of the fabric to avoid leaving unsightly projections or dog-ears. By positioning the ends 19 and 20 of the join line respectively behind the toe extremity and in front of the heel, the avoidance of such dog-ears" is facilitated, but in some cases, such as when a straight join line is shown at 15 or 16 in Fig. 2 is used, it may be found desirable in the case of a seamed join line to have the ends of the seam extending through small tucks formed in the material of the fabric as described in British Patent No. 756,861.

It is generally advantageous in the construction of the stocking to have the tubular fabric knitted in the direction from the foot to the welt in order to provide greater resistance against ladder-runs extending upwards from the 3 region of the foot. In seaming the join line 18 the sewn stitches should, to prevent laddering from the seam, be made sufficiently short to ensure that a knitted loop in each wale at each side of the folded fabric is penetrated by the sewing needle, but as an additional safeguard against a ladder-run developing from a faulty join the direction of knitting aforesaid is of assistance. Further. if desired, a locking thread may be incorporated in known manner in the knitted structure near the location where the join line is to occur so that, with the aforementioned direction of knitting the blank, extra resistance to upward ladder-runs is secured.

A particularly useful application of the invention is to stockings knitted with what is termed a micro-mesh structure that is, one in whch tuck loops are formed at regular intervals and staggered from course to course in regular manner. A characteristic of this type of fabric is that it offers a particularly strong resistance to ladderruns in the direction in which it is knitted. Thus a stocking formed from a blank knitted of micro-mesh fabric in the direction from the foot to the welt with the micro-mesh structure extending through the reinforced part 12 and having its foot end closed by a sewn seam at the join line 18, is one which possesses good wearing qualities as well as offering the advantages of a neat and pleasing appearance.

What I claim is:

The method of producing a hose comprising knitting a tube of fabric by circular knitting with at least that portion which is to form the foot knitted from a thermoplastic yarn and with the extremity of the foot portion knitted with a spliced tubular part, closing the foot end by a curved seam conforming to the curvature of the under edge of the stocking foot and including a compound curve under the ball and arch of the foot, and extending across the laid out tubular fabric between the front and back lines thereof, forcing the tube on to a form having a shaped foot portion, stretching the material of the fabric widthwise and in a direction longitudinally of the foot part of the form until the closure seam extends from a point below the toe extremity of the form to a point close to and beneath the heel, whereby the boundary of the spliced area is caused to extend across and just above the toe extremity, along the sides of the foot and under the heel, said compound curvature of the seam providing a length substantially longer than the transverse dimens on of the stocking tube to assist stretching of the fabric along the foot, and setting the fabric in said distorted condition to form the shape of the foot.

References Cited in the tile ofi this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gottschalck July 5, 1949 Margulies Jan. 11, 1955 Ducharme Feb. 8, 1955 Buckreus Mar. 4, 1958 

